Overhead door latch

ABSTRACT

A latch for an overhead garage door is disclosed wherein the parts are made on inexpensive standard structural steel members and, on the top of the garage door is placed a catch member, and on the fixed structure or on door casing above the door is placed a pivotal hook member that is capable of engaging the catch member. To release the hook member from the catch member, a rocking lever is also mounted on top of the door. One end of the lever is attached to a depending rod member which, when pulled, causes the other end of the lever to lift the hook member, releasing the catch member, to allow the door to be opened. To operate the rod from outside the door, the rod is coupled to a standard barrel lock that has an arm disposed inside the door and being rotatable about an axis disposed normal to the door.

United States Patent 1191 Hanson 1 1 OVERHEAD DOOR LATCH [76] Inventor: William 1). Hanson, 8380 Dale SL,

Buena Park, Calif. 90620 22 Filed: 0ct.29,1973

21 Appl.N0.:408,890

Primary Examiner-Robert L. Wolfe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Dominick Nardelli 1 1 Oct. 1, 1974 [571 ABSTRACT A an overhead garage door is disclosed ture or on door casing above the door is placed a pivotal hook member that is capable of engaging the catch member. To release the hook member from the catch member, a rocking lever is also mounted on top of the door. One end of the lever is attached to a depending rod member which, when pulled, causes the lother end of the lever to lift the hook member, releas- {ing the catch member, to allow the door to be opened. To operate the rod from outside the door, the rod is coupled to a standard barrel lock that has an arm disposed inside the door and being; rotatable about an axis disposednormal to the door.

9 ciainsjziam Figures OVERHEAD DOOR LATCH FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an overhead door latch and, more particularly, to an economical, rugged and durable lock-type latch for an overhead door.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many types of door latches have been designed for overhead garage doors. For different reasons, these latches have not received wide acceptance. The most important reason, in my opinion, has been cost and convenience. Another reason is that any door latch used must not interfere with the normal operation of the door.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide an economical, dependable lock-type door latch.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dependable door latch that can be manufactured from standard structural members.

These and other objects and features of advantages will become more apparent after studying the following description of the preferred embodiment of my invention, together with the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the center portion of the overhead door, showing the novel latch in detail, and the door casing in section.

FIG. 2 is an inside broken away elevation of the top central portion of the door of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the novel latch showing the door and the door casing, in section, and the novel latch locking the door shut.

FIG. 4 is another side elevation showing the latch in its disengaged position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

In the drawings, the door 11 and the door casing 12 are schematically shown. The door 11 is, for example, a standard overhead garage door, having a framing made of, such as. a 2- 4 wood stud 13 on which is nailed a skin of inch thick plywood 14. The door casing 12 includes the standard framing and outside weather surface, not shown in detail. The door 11 is mounted within the doorway of the casing by the use of standard door hardware (not shown, but as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,660,765). The construction of my novel latch is as follows: On the casings 12 are bolted a pair of spaced angle sections 16 and 17 made of, for example, 2 2 inch angle iron spaced apart about 6 inches as shown. Through each angle section 16 and 17 are drilled aligned holes through which a long bolt 18 extends. The bolt 18 pivotably supports a hook member 21 made of, for example, angle sections 22 and 23 made also, for example, of 2X2 inch angle iron. The angle sections 22 and 23 are mounted together by the aid of a short bar 24 suitably welded therebetween. The angle sections 22 and 23 each have cutouts, as shown by a notch 26 and 27 at the middle of and a bevel 29 on the end of angle section 23 and, for reasons that will become apparent hereinafter, angle section 22 iscut similar to section 23. A bar stop welded between angle sections 16 and 17, as shown, holds hook member 21 substantially horizontal, when required.

On top of the center of the door 11 and, more partic ularly, on top of a surface of the stud 13 which surface is normal to the door, there is bolted a catch member 28, also made of 2X2 inch angle iron. Welded to the upright leg of the catch member 28, or the leg normal thereto, are a pair of spaced pivot supports 31 and 32 made of, for example, l 3 /s inch bar stock. The pivot supports 31 and 32 support a pin 33 on which a rocking lever 34 (made of 4; inch round stock) is pivotably mounted. On the inward (garage side) pointing end of the lever 34 is welded a T-cross 36 so that it extends below each section 22 and 23 of the hook member 21. The other end of the lever 34 is connected to a rod 37 made of /s inch round steel stock and depending loosely through a hole 38 in stud 13 so that the rod 37 is disposed inside the door. The lower end of rod 37 is connected to the end of an arm 39 that has its other end pivotably mounted with respect to the door 11 by a suitable bracket 41. The arm 39 has another rod 42 depending therefrom. This rod 42 slips through a suitably disposed vertical hole in the arm 39 and the top of the rod 42 is provided with a nut 43 so that the rod is capable of slipping through the hole without becoming disengaged. The lower end of rod 42 is hooked on an arm 49 of a standard barrel lock 46 that has a place for key 47 outside of the door. 7

The latch operates as follows: the key 47 is inserted into the lock 46 and turned counter-clockwise, as viewed, facing the door. This causes the arm 49 on the lock 46 to pull the rod 42 down. In turn, the arm 38 pivots downward and rod 37 also moves down, causing the rocking lever 34 to pivot clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 3. The T-cross 36 lifts the hook member 21 to the position shown in FIG. 4 and the door 11 is free to be lifted up and out of the way. When the door is in a raised position, the hook member 21 isheld substantially horizontal by the bar stop 25 so that the member 21 is out of the way when one tries to close the door 11. To further insure no interference on closing, a compression spring 30 is provided to return lever 34 parallel to stud l3 and a b'evel 29 is provided on the end of angle sections 22 and 23 to clear the comer of the door.

Having described the preferred embodiment of my invention, one skilled in the art, after studying the foregoing, could devise other embodiments without departing from the spirit and utility of my invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be considered limited to the disclosed embodiment, but includes all embodiments coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination:

a door casing forming a doorway;

a door pivotably mounted in said doorway, for pivotable movement between a vertical closed and a horizontal raised position;

a hook member pivotably mounted on said casing above said door and disposed to pivot about an horizontal axis that is parallel to said door;

a catch member fixed on the top of said door and disposed to be engaged by said hook member when said door is in the vertical closed position,

a lever, pivotably mounted, at substantially its midpoint, on the top of said door;

a pull means fixed to one end of said lever and depending along the wall of said door,

said other end of said lever being disposed to engage and lift said hook member off said catch member whenever said pull means is pulled downward to cause disengagement between said hook member and said catch member to allow one to lift said door to its horizontal position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pull means comprises:

a rod extending from said one end of said lever substantially parallel to said door,

a barrel lock disposed through an opening in said door and having an arm rotatably mounted inside said door and about an axis normal to said door, and

coupling means for coupling said rod to said arm to cause said one end of said lever to be pulled towards said door whenever said arm is rotated in a given direction.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said coupling means is further limited to allow one to pull said rod to lift said hook member off said catch member while inside the door.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein:

said door having a frame to form a surface on top thereof which surface is normal to said door,

said catch member is a first angle section fixed on said surface with one leg of said angle section disposed normal to the surface,

said hook member comprised of a second angle section and having a notched formed midway in a leg of said second section and disposed to engage said one leg on said catch member.

5. In the combination of claim 4 wherein:

said lever is pivotably mounted about an axis disposed parallel to said surface, and

said lever is disposed so that said other end is capable of lifting said hook member.

6. In the combination of claim 4 wherein:

a pair of pivotal bar-type supports are fixed next to said leg on said first section,

said lever being disposed between said supports. and

a pin pivotably mounting said lever to said supports.

7. In the combination of claim 6 wherein:

a rod extending from said one end of said lever substantially parallel to said door,

a barrel lock disposed through an opening in said door and having an arm rotatably mounted inside said door and about an axis normal to said door. and

coupling means for coupling said rod to said arm to cause said one end of said lever to be pulled towards said door whenever said arm is rotated in a given direction.

8. In the combination of claim 7 wherein said coupling means is further limited to allow one to pull said rod to lift said hook member off said catch member while inside the door.

9. In the combination of claim 8 wherein:

said hook member comprises a third angle section attached in spaced-apart relationship with said sec ond section;

a fourth and fifth parallelly disposed angle sections are mounted vertically above said door onto said casing;

a bolts passing through said fourth and fifth angle sections so that said hook member is capable of pivoting; and

means are provided to hold said hook member substantially horizontal when required. 

1. In combination: a door casing forming a doorway; a door pivotably mounted in said doorway, for pivotable movement between a vertical closed and a horizontal raised position; a hook member pivotably mounted on said casing above said door and disposed to pivot about an horizontal axis that is parallel to said door; a catch member fixed on the top of said door and disposed to be engaged by said hook member when said door is in the vertical closed position, a lever, pivotably mounted, at substantially its mid-point, on the top of said door; a pull means fixed to one end of said lever and depending along the wall of said door, said other end of said lever being disposed to engage and lift said hook member off said catch member whenever said pull means is pulled downward to cause disengagement between said hook member and said catch member to allow one to lift said door to its horizontal position.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pull means comprises: a rod extending from said one end of said lever substantially parallel to said door, a barrel lock disposed through an opening in said door and having an arm rotatably mounted inside said door and about an axis normal to said door, and coupling means for coupling said rod to said arm to cause said one end of said lever to be pulled towards said door whenever said arm is rotated in a given direction.
 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said coupling means is further limited to allow one to pull said rod to lift said hook member off said catch member while inside the door.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein: said door having a frame to form a surface on top thereof which surface is normal to said door, said catch member is a first angle section fixed on said surface with one leg of said angle section disposed normal to the surface, said hook member comprised of a second angle section and having a notched formed midway in a leg of said second section and disposed to engage said one leg on said catch member.
 5. In the combination of claim 4 wherein: said lever is pivotably mounted about an axis disposed parallel to said surface, and said lever is disposed so that said other end is capable of lifting said hook member.
 6. In the combination of claim 4 wherein: a pair of pivotal bar-type supports are fixed next to said leg on said first section, said lever being disposed between said supports, and a pin pivotably mounting said lever to said supports.
 7. In the combination of claim 6 wherein: a rod extending from said one end of said lever substantially parallel to said door, a barrel lock disposed through an opening in said door and having an arm rotatably mounted inside said door and about an axis normal to said door, and coupling means for coupling said rod to said arm to cause said one end of said lever to be pulled towards said door whenever said arm is rotated in a given direction.
 8. In the combination of claim 7 wherein said coupling means is further limited to allow one to pull said rod to lift said hook member off said catch member while inside the door.
 9. In the combination of claim 8 wherein: said hook member comprises a third angle section attached in spaced-apart relationship with said second section; a fourth and fifth parallelly disposed angle sections are mounted vertically above said door onto said casing; a bolts passing through said fourth and fifth angle sections so that said hook member is capable of pivoting; and means are provided to hold said hook member substantially horizontal when required. 